Priceline.com Inc.’s trip to $1,000 is indicative of how stock prices have swelled to unprecedented territory, a development that isn’t getting much pushback on Wall Street.

The stock market’s relentless rally to record levels has pushed the price of individual stocks higher than ever. From Priceline.com in the high $900s to Google Inc. hovering in the high $800s to MasterCard Inc. trading above $600, investors haven’t shied away from paying the high nominal value that each of these stock prices exhibit.

The average price of an S&P 500 stock is $70.04, the highest level on record, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. By comparison this figure stood at $51.97 in 2007, the previous year major stock indexes hit record levels.

Prices, on average, have stayed roughly in the $30-to-$50 range since 1980.

What’s more, 130 companies in the S&P 500, or about 26% of the index, sport stock prices of at least $75. That figure is up from 92 last year and 20 in 2008. Seven companies in the index, including Apple, hold stock prices of more than $400. Apple is the only one whose shares are down year-to-date.

There are many factors contributing to higher stock prices. The Fed’s stimulus plans and an improving economy have driven major stock indexes to record highs. But the lack of stock splits has also played a role. Only nine stock splits have taken place this year. In the 1990s, by comparison, 64 companies in the S&P 500, on average, split their stocks each year, S&P data show.

“Companies do not feel compelled to cut their share price,” says Ana Avramovic, a trading strategist at Credit Suisse Group.

“Traditionally, companies have a comfort level where they want their [stock] to trade,” Silverblatt said. “When their stock rises above that comfort level, and is stable, companies would split the stock, bringing the price lower…That belief has declined, as investors no longer appear to be scared off by higher priced [stocks].”

Priceline hasn’t ruled out a possible stock split down the line, though Chief Executive Jeffery Boyd said the board has already floated the idea of one and opted to leave the share count where it is.

“The company’s focus is primarily on managing the business and not where the stock trades at any one time,” Boyd said in an interview, adding that Priceline today is a “very different company” from what it was 14 years ago.

Looks like the pursuit of $1,000 isn’t scaring many investors right now. More than 1.6 million Priceline shares have changed hands shortly after noon Eastern Time, which is greater than two-and-a-half times the stock’s average daily trading volume over the past 30 days, according to FactSet.